THE WAR YEARS

On December 7, 1941, Asian – and world – history took a sudden and tragic turn for the worse as the Imperial Forces of the Japanese Empire bombed Pearl Harbor in a surprise attack that plunged America and all of Asia into war. Japan, the industrial giant of Asia – heavily populated, seeking new markets, and urged on by aggressive war lords – sought to build what she called the "Greater Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", with herself at the helm of leadership.

The Philippines, along with the rest of Southeast Asia, was included in those plans of conquest. The oft-told story of resistance to the Japanese invasion of these shores is one of courage and valor, for Filipino and American troops fought the aggressors against overwhelming odds. Although the Philippines was beaten when Corregidor and Bataan fell, the defeat did not come until precious months had passed by, months which upset the Japanese time-table and gave the Allied Forces time to regroup in Australia.
Between the fall of Bataan and the fight for liberation, beginning in late 1944 and ending in early 1945, there was great suffering among the Filipino people. Of course Methodism was not spared from this suffering. Faithful members and church workers were killed, church property destroyed and much of the work had to come to a virtual standstill. The missionaries, as American citizens, were especially suspect by the Japanese, and they were imprisoned in the old Harris building on P. Paredes street in Manila.
To give an idea of the kind of suffering that occurred during those years, the district superintendents' reports at the first Annual Conference following the war (held in Guagua, Pampanga on March 14-17, 1946) are highly instructive. For example, Eladio Reyes, reporting for the Bataan-Zambales District, said that in 1941 seven of nine Methodist church buildings had been destroyed and four parsonages were burned to the ground. Most of the people were made homeless and 95 per cent of them had lost most of their personal property. The Japanese Army appropriated most of the work animals, as well as the harvested rice. Half of the population suffered from malaria, dysentery and typhoid and a great number of persons died, especially in southern Bataan. Along with the loss of churches and parsonages, the pastors lost their books and sermons and church records. The Methodist Church in Paranaque was hit by an incendiary bomb while the congregation was at worship, and all of the people there, except two, were killed, including the pastor and deaconess. Many Methodists were killed by the Japanese, by shrapnel or by the bombings. Five pastors in the Manila District alone were killed.¹³⁰

During those terrible years, several factors converged to make for closer cooperation among the Protestants and for the growth of indigenous leadership. The facing of a common enemy and the suffering common to all did much to minimize differences and to maximize areas of agreement among the various churches. The Japanese internment of missionaries placed all leadership in the hands of the Filipino churchmen. In addition, there was the overt pressure from the Japanese, who sought to Filipinize the churches, in order to separate them from dependence upon American churches. The Japanese not only wanted Filipino leadership, they also wanted the Protestants organically united so as to make for easier surveillance and control of the denominations. No doubt the Japanese also believed that a national church would be less likely to look forward to the return of missionary leadership and funds and hence would come more readily to accept the fact of the Japanese occupation of the country.

Thus early after the Japanese came, a Military Proclamation was issued, stating that the head of each church must be a Filipino. Under insistent pressure from the Japanese, therefore, the district superintendents and the Executive Council of the Central Conference met on October 16, 1942, and elected Francisco Galvez, Manila District Superintendent, as “Acting Head.” The Japanese were not satisfied, however, that he be called the "acting" head and continued to exert pressure until on April 30, 1943, The Methodist Church designated him as "General Superintendent.¹³¹ At any rate, it is important to remember the year 1942 as the time when the Rev. Francisco Galvez became the first Filipino to be the actual leader of Methodism in the Philippines. His was a difficult role because he had to give leadership to a church suffering from the ravages of war; and he had to deal with the occupying power. But, with devotion and effectiveness, he served the Church well and he should be remembered for the contribution he made to Methodism during a perilous time. His secretary at that time was Attorney Jacob Quiambao, who later was to enter the ministry and eventually to become head of the Department of Sociology and Social Ethics at Union Theological Seminary and a leading Asian authority on family life.

The Japanese were not content with the attitude of The Methodist Church, however. They realized that the Methodists were using delaying tactics in order to get around the Military Proclamation. The Methodist Church not only hesitated to accept dictation from the oppressive, occupying power; it also wanted to abide strictly by the provisions of the General Conference, which had authorized the election of a Filipino bishop, but not until 1944 – the scheduled date of the next Central Conference. Thus, it was that on July 16, 1943, Attorney Juan Nabong, chairman of the Executive Committee of the Central Conference, received from the Rev. Yoshiaki Nakada of the Religious Section, Department of Information, Japanese Army, the following communication:

We have been informed that the General Conference of The Methodist Church passed an enabling act authorizing The Methodist; Church in the Philippines to elect its own Bishop during the period ending in April, 1944. In order to enable The Methodist Church to function effectively under present conditions, I would like to suggest that you take the necessary steps to elect your Filipino Bishop within this year and to organize The Methodist Church in the Philippines so that it may act; as an independent entity. Please inform us of the date of your conference so that the necessary permit may be given to you for that purpose.¹³²

Therefore the Executive Committee and the Council of District Superintendents met in October of 1943 and called the Central Conference session for January 21-23, 1944 at Knox Church. All delegates came except those from Isabela and Nueva Viscaya. The delegate who came from the furthest point north was the Rev. Benito Tovera of Aparri, Cagayan, and he came by sail boat!¹³³
The Conference decided unanimously to elect a bishop; and D. D. Alejandro, outstanding Methodist leader for many years, who at that time was serving as pulpit supply pastor of Ellinwood Church, was elected on the second ballot. The choice of Alejandro as the first Filipino Methodist bishop was most appropriate. With a background both in the pastorate and in teaching, he brought to the episcopacy pastoral skill and scholarly ability that served the Church well in those postwar years. On the last day of the session he was inducted into office at the Central Students' Church, with all of the district superintendents participating. Abiding by Disciplinary provisions, there was no laying on of hands, since no bishop was present. The ritual for the consecration of a bishop was read except for that part pertaining to the actual consecration. It was agreed that he would be considered "bishop- elect" until after the close of the war, at which time he could be properly consecrated according to the rules of The Methodist Church.¹³⁴ A touching recollection of the events immediately following the election of Bishop-elect Alejandro was given in the Episcopal Address of 1948 which is here quoted:

...The mere knowledge that there had been elected in Manila a Filipino bishop made our people in the provinces happy, even those hiding in the hills and mountains of Viscaya and Cagayan. In due time letters of congratulations and greetings and material expressions of love and loyalty were received from leaders and members who had not been able to attend the Central Conference because of transportation difficulties. All these made us feel not only happy but assured us of the loyalty and devotion of our people. I must not forget to mention here that even our dear missionaries interned in Harris Memorial buildings had their share of honoring the new bishop and welcoming him into the exalted office by inviting him and Mrs. Alejandro to a real tea party, a thing most unthinkable and unbelievable for prisoners of war to do, and yet it was very true nevertheless. With such unity of spirit and whole-hearted devotion back of us, we faced the uncertain, heavy responsibility of leading and conserving our beloved church.

For obvious reasons, it was impossible to do much during those difficult war days, but we were enabled to accomplish one great thing. Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the loyalty of our people, we were able to keep The Methodist Church not only intact and free from any defection but aggressively functioning for God and righteous- ness. Wherever our preachers and people went as they ran away from the enemy, there was the preaching of the Gospel resulting in small congregations growing up. It may sound strange and unbelievable, but it is nevertheless true that evangelism and self-support went on unabated during the war years.¹³⁵

The other major issue the Central Conference had to decide on was that of organic union between the Protestant churches. Organic union was being urged upon the the Methodists, not only by the Japanese observers at the Conference, but by members of other denominations as well who attended the Central Conference in the interests of union. The Central Conference, however, was able to avoid having to make a decision on this issue on the grounds that according to Methodist procedure, it was the Annual Conferences rather than the Central Conference which were the legally constituted bodies that had to decide on such matters. The report of the Committee on Organic Union was thereby endorsed to the Annual. Conferences for "study and action" with The Methodist Church meanwhile being considered an "associate member in any organization looking toward organic union until such time as the two Annual Conferences could have acted on the matter ."¹³⁶

Before the Annual Conferences could be held, however, an assembly of more than thirty denominations was held on April 29, 1944, to decide on the matter of church union, as had been instituted by the Japanese. At this assembly the Evangelical Church in the Philippines was formed, composed of part of the United Evangelical Church; the Iglesia Unida de Cristo, Iglesia Evangelica Christiano Independiente, the Church of Christ (Disciples), The Philippine Methodist Church (not to be confused with The Methodist Church in the Philippines), part of the IEMELIF and more than twenty smaller bodies.¹³⁷ Enrique Sobrepena was elected the presiding bishop of this war-time church.

In the subsequent meetings of the Methodist Annual Conferences (the Philippines Conference meeting at Atlag, Malolos, in May of 1944 and the Northern Philippines Conference meeting at Dagupan in June of that year), the plan of union endorsed by the Religious Section of the Japanese Imperial Army was not acted upon favorably.¹³⁸ But, surprisingly the Japanese did not try to force the Methodists into the union at that time; and then, before many months had passed, they began to lose interest in the matter since the course of the war was moving increasingly against them. In September, 1944, American bombers flew over Manila and it became evident that liberation was near. In October, U.S. troops landed in Leyte and the following January, Lingayen was liberated.

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